ReliefWeb

Several earthquakes struck Central Sulawesi province from 28–29 September. The strongest had a magnitude of 7.5 and triggered a tsunami that hit land at a speed of 800km per hour with waves of up to 6m. Land liquefaction caused by the earthquake also had serious humanitarian consequences as the fate of two villages with approximately 5,000 residents remains uncertain. At least 74,000 people have been displaced and 2,010 people have died, and these numbers continue to rise. At least 616,000 people have been affected.

Humanitarian constraints

Several factors constrain humanitarian access to the affected areas. These include blocked roads to more remote parts of Donggala; the risk of landslides and further land liquefaction; bureaucratic restraints such as the ban on international aid staff in the disaster zone; and a bottleneck at Palu airport.

Anticipated scope and scale

This series of disasters continues to evolve in scope and scale. There is a strong likelihood that the death toll and injury figures will rise further in the affected areas. The forecasted weather increases risks stemming from waterborne and vector-borne diseases. Search-and-rescue operations are set to end on 11 October, which means the total number of dead and missing may not be confirmed for quite some time. Additionally, the Indonesian government’s decision to order all foreign humanitarian workers to leave the quake zone may increase co-ordination capacity in the longer term, but it could lead to confusion, frustration and a delay in aid to the affected areas in the immediate term.